Leftovers 10-15-14

As I said on Tuesday, there were a whole bunch of comics out this week so let's dive right into it with these much shorter, much quicker reviews. Let's also hope that they're much shorter and much quicker than I tend to be, even in these.


Avengers World 14

The Next Avengers help Sunspot, Cannonball, and Hyperion bring down Barbuda and free Smasher from their control as Shang-Chi gets his revenge on Gorgon, replacing Madripoor in the process, and Druid, who was killed while in the land of the dead, giving him the ability to stay with them and now giving him access to the language he needs, successfully brings the dead back and closes the portals while the Avengers and Euroforce beat up Le Fay. Success all around! These three sweeping stories come to a close in a pretty clean way, but one that follows well enough from the rest of the series. Strong writing and wonderful art anchor this one. Total Score: 5/5








Deadpool's Art of War 1
Deadpan gets hired in some strange chrono-bending way to kill Sun Tzu, author of Art of War and he gets real interested in the work, deciding to re-write it and publish it, claiming it as his own. His would-be publisher demands he find a new way to write the story as many have already done just that and he decides it should take the angle of a survivor's guide. He decides to start a massive war so that he can test his theories out surviving just such a war and pits Loki and Thor against each other, trolls and frost giants against Asgardians. However, his advice to Loki gives Loki the upper hand and Loki actually wins the inciting fight. There is maybe an interesting story in here but I've yet to really see it. It's also not nearly as fun as you'd want a Deadpool story to be with only really a handful of fun moments even attempted and almost all of them missing the mark. With Loki standing over a beaten Thor on the last page, Deadpool asks us "Isn't this fun?" Nope, but thanks for asking such a specific question. Total Score: 2/5


Edge of Spider-Verse 5
The final EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE shows us little Peni Parker, someone who I will not be talking about in the possessive sense, set to replace her father as SP//dr, a premiere crimefighter of her world who relies on a genetically keyed spider-suit to fight crime, which she does well, even despite her youth. After a run-in with Mysterio and some gangs (and a team-up with that universe's Daredevil), she's accosted on the train by two other Spiders from different universes, who warn her of the coming Morlun and other Spider-Killers. She agrees to go with them to help strengthen the Spiders. It's a pretty strong book (though I tend to have a distaste for books wherein some song plays and the lyrics show up as text in the book, particularly when the book is written by the frontman of My Chemical Romance, a band whose music I do not care for, but this is getting real nitpicky now and very nearly petty so let's close up this parenthetical) and the art is particularly strong. Overall, with a couple of missteps, the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE precursor mini-series has created some interesting characters and should get readers pretty interested for the main course, starting in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 9. Total Score: 4/5


Fantastic Four 11
She-Hulk meets with Wyatt Wingfoot and they discuss how Johnny's in trouble and how everything else seems to have broken the wrong way for Marvel's first family. The duo agree to team-up and try to figure out who is behind all of this before whoever it is can figure out they're on his or her trail. On his way home from the meet-up, though, Wyatt is attacked by a mysterious archer, saved only when Spider-Man pops in, also called by She-Hulk to give a hand. Oh, and Thing keeps getting beaten up in prison with a pseudo ally in Sandman and Reed is doing stuff and Sue is still crying. Really continue to not like this book but I do think this might have been a stronger issue than the last few, almost because the F4 weren't in it as much. That, uh, that still didn't make the book good, I should specify. Still way too narrative heavy and hand-holding and painted with such a broad stroke to be dark and menacing to actually feel that way. Total Score: 2/5


Hulk 7
Doc Green, fresh on his de-gamma-ing of Rick Jones, meets with Hulkling, who promises him that his powers are based on mixed alien heritage, not gamma in a fun little scene. Green's next real target is Skaar, son of Hulk (who Green claims not to be any more), so he travels to the Savage Land. After a vicious fight, Green manages to inject Skaar with the serum and watches him revert to something more resembling human (though with Skaar's strange background, no one really knows what he is now). His next targets seem to be the Red Hulks, both he and she, but first he has to deal with what's going on inside him, which seems to be a rebellion from Banner and even Hulk, still locked away in his mind. Some interesting things afoot here. I still don't like and/or care about Doc Green, which is the only thing the book is slipping on but I have a feeling now that it's intentionally slipping on that point. With the reveal that Banner and even Hulk may be still in Doc Green's mind, showing that the Hulk and Doc Green might really be separate entities, it's probable that Doc Green isn't the one we're really meant to be pulling for. Some interesting stuff and I'm surprised by how excited I've become to see the other Hulks in this series. Apparently I like those guys. Total Score: 4/5


Loki: Agent of Asgard 7
Doom has trapped current Loki in time stasis after the villainous Loki showed Doom that he would destroy the world in the future. With Doom distracted, though, by Red Onslaught's hate-wave affecting Latveria, Verity reveals herself to Valeria and explains that Loki should be freed, the logic of which hits Valeria pretty quickly. They go and break down the time cube then, with Loki and his truth-sword released, they construct a way to broadcast the sword's inherent truth to Latveria, freeing the civilians from the perceived hatred they'd been feeling. As Doom and Loki debate what to do next, Magneto shows up and tells them they're needed to fight the Red Onslaught or else watch the world burn. Though I still can't help but eye-roll at Verity Willis (that name! What a specifically correct name PRE-DISCOVERY of her powers! Which are still undefined!), this is a pretty strong issue. There are an appropriate amount of funny moments and clever twists and turns. Valeria in particular gets a solid performance, with Ewing nicely toeing the line between naive child and brilliant wunderkind well (a line that so few others manage to hit). Best part is when Verity asks what makes hate easy and Val mutters "Mommy and daddy." Aww, poor angry kid. Also, great art from Jorge Coelho. Total Score: 4/5


Magneto 11

Hey, we just talked about this guy! Anyway, we see a bit of the last issue of AXIS as Magneto flees the fight with Iron Man on the verge of being crushed. He returns to his base with Briar Raleigh, wondering if maybe he isn't the massive villain the world thinks him to be, after unleashing Onslaught a second time and causing so much destruction once more, all while never actually helping his chosen people. Briar plays him a video she made of all of his greatest hits, which are mostly violent and despicable from the outside, but ends with a clip of a civilian mutant saying that, though Magneto was angry in all of this, he saved her life and she's happy, if a bit scared, that someone like him is on her side. Rejuvenated, Magneto travels to the ends of the Earth to gather a number of villains including Mystique, Sabertooth, Carnage, Doom, Loki, Absorbing Man, Hobgoblin, and Deadpool (who actually comes to him), to take on the hero-killing Sentinels Red Onslaught has at his command. Though this certainly wouldn't be required reading to understand what's happening in AXIS (we know by the end of issue two that Magneto left and got some villains and came back, which is pretty much all we need to know to continue), this one actually really does add a lot of depth to the stories, both the story of AXIS and the story of Magneto. It's extremely well-done and fits nicely with what Bunn has been establishing all along for Magneto. Great work. Total Score: 5/5


Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 6
While the Green Goblin recovers from his gunshot-to-the-head wounds and promptly kills J. Jonah Jameson for them, Miles and Maria Hill talk to Peter and MJ, trying to ensure that he's the real deal. As they keep questioning him and he keeps basically saying that he is Peter but he doesn't know how he's alive, probably something to do with science or whatever, Gwen and Aunt May also show up, suddenly aware that he's still alive. Unfortunately, the reunion is cut short when Goblin turns up on the front lawn. Miles demands Peter get his family and friends to safety while he takes on Goblin. With a series of attacks revolving around his venom blasts, Miles takes down Osborn with ease. Hill calls for backup to restrain Osborn while the powered-down Norman pleads with Miles to help him, promising that he'll tell him the truth about Miles' own powers and DUN DUN DUN his real father. EYE-ROLL. I actually enjoyed this issue (though it came with a lot of the sort of back-and-forth dialogue that seems to only serve to extend the pages...now we're getting into different styles of Bendis writing) right up until that last page, where Norman promises to tell him about his REAL FATHER. I suppose there has to be more drama to the return of the Green Goblin than just "oh, Miles' venom works absolutely GREAT on that guy" but I really don't need more daddy issues in comics or, you know, anywhere else, thanks. It's possible this will be some sort of fake-out or won't have the desired effect on Miles, but I'm reviewing this issue for this issue, not for the future, and GEEZ, trope alert. Total Score: 4/5


Original Sin Annual 1

We get a look back at the days when Fury took the job to be the new Man on the Wall in the stead of Woodrow McCord. Fury, eager to know more about McCord, is shown around the moonbase by Howard Stark, who shows him McCord's diary. In it, McCord explains what happened between himself and the man he replaced, a man named Stafford, and what the job has done to him in turn. I went into this book with a lot of skepticism because I don't tend to love Annuals and I really don't tend to love Annuals for events or for one-year only comics and I already didn't love ORIGINAL SIN. To say, then, that this issue is absolutely the best thing to come out of ORIGINAL SIN feels a little like the truth and a bit misleading at the same time. It's the truth because this book really does feel, to me, like it outstrips anything in ORIGINAL SIN, thanks to the quality of ORIGINAL SIN, and it's a bit misleading because this book really is genuinely very good. It's an extremely well-written character piece about Woody McCord and, on the outsides of that story, about Nick Fury. There's a lot here and Latour does a great job to really make the Man on the Wall stuff compelling and interesting. I couldn't help remembering that Latour was the last person to write a WINTER SOLDIER series before this newest incarnation and that I'd absolutely have loved to see him as the writer on this current one, as a guy who clearly has a compelling take on the Man on the Wall thing and who knows Bucky well. Great stuff here. Really worth checking out for a single issue sort of thing. Total Score: 5/5


Spider-Man 2099 5
Miguel insists that Alchemax no longer do things like hire criminals straight out of prison and suggests that they instead work on building supervillain prisons, an idea that Liz Allan is onboard with. However, Miguel is bothered by searing pains in his head as Miguel O'Hara's from different worlds are killed by Morlun. He escapes to the roof and switches to his costume right as the Miguel O'Hara who linked all of his fellow Miguel's heads together in a misguided attempt to team them up opens a portal to 616. Before he manages to enter it, though, Morlun catches up with him and kills him, dropping the body to the 616 but shies away from entering himself, remembering that world as the one in which he died. Miguel takes the body and realizes he has to find Spider-Man. Interesting issue all around. There's maybe an attempt at a little too much backstory from the other universe's Miguels especially considering it's quite clear they're going to die before they have a huge impact on the story, but our Miguel does well here and it seems like he'll be our messenger for the SPIDER-VERSE entry point coming very soon. Total Score: 4/5


Storm 4

Storm, hurt by the loss of Wolverine, expresses her grief out a safe distance from Earth before settling down and moving forward. She finds Wolverine's phone on his desk, which instantly gets a text from Yukio, asking for him to come down to help. She instead travels to Las Vegas where she tells Yukio what happened to Wolverine and promises to accompany her to whatever she needs help with. Believing this could be a bad idea as Storm is bound to not like what's coming, Yukio leads her to an underground meeting with the heads of a few clans of the world. The four bosses talk and try to figure out land issues with two clans clashing over one AIM base drifting between their territories. To solve the dispute, the four bosses and Storm go into an arena where two champions for the sparring clans face off. Disgusted by the fight-to-the-death mentality, Storm intercedes, with Yukio pleading her not to, saying that these fights keep the civilian casualties down from these gangs. Storm can't abide it, though, and the head of the third clan challenges Yukio for supremacy after her champion broke the rules. The pain of the loss of Wolverine is handled nicely in this issue, with Pak and Ibañez dedicating about five pages to her overwhelming grief before having her refocus and continue forth. It's pretty much what you want from Storm. The fighting clans are a little confusing to write about in an attempted brief summary but work alright in the book (though the areas they're claiming are a little vague). It's also a nice example of the differences between Wolverine and Storm, with Wolverine abiding these fights because he understands that it could keep civilian casualties down and Storm unable to abide these fights for any reason. Total Score: 4/5


Superior Foes of Spider-Man 16
The penultimate issue of SUPERIOR FOES finds the Sinister Six ready to step up as the heads of the Maggia with the head of Silvermane in tow. Unfortunately for them, Overdrive, Beetle, and Speed Demon all made deals with various other mobs and now the pier is a war zone about to get even crazier as Punisher, Mach VII, and Shocker head that way for their own reasons. Boomerang, though, got everything he wanted as he had stolen Chameleon's shape-shifting serum from his vault and poses as a Mets rookie pitcher to get to pitch once more for his team. As ever, really fun, really engaging issue. Great stuff from Speed Demon and Boomerang and a couple of twists that work really well for the issue. It's been a really fun ride for this team and I'm sad to know it's coming to an end in the next issue, but glad that we managed to get 17 out of it. Guys, 17 issues for a funny book that stars a supervillain C-team is kind of a massive win. Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 9-24-14

Okay. I apologize both for my busy week this week and for the upcoming post. Got a lot of apologies to make. ANYWAY, let's get right into and out of it.

All-New Ghost Rider 7

Robbie is still having trouble making his personal life and Eli come to some sort of understanding and he ends up killing a guy to take the money he was owed before another Ghost Rider shows up to complicate things further. Still strong stuff with Smith spending just the right amount of time characterizing Robbie and the neighborhood, though I'm still wary of Hyde's role in all of this. Total Score: 4/5












All-New Invaders 10
Mars attacks? I don't know, man, this book is pretty terrible. They're helped by the daughter of the original Iron Cross who is an Inhuman now and then Torch goes crazy and she promises to help while Mars attacks London and Roger Aubrey, the Mighty Destroyer, literally has a line of dialogue that goes "I'm an incredibly dashing, older gay gentleman, by virtue of which means I'm incredibly vain" directly after he says to Union Jack and Spitfire "A speedster, a young man with a pistol and a vintage motor bike, and a "flamboyant" octogenarian." DOES ANYONE THINK ANYTHING IN THIS BOOK THEY DON'T SAY? Perhaps James Robinson would like to sit beside us as we read his books and explain bit-by-bit what's happening in case we don't understand? Total Score: 1/5

Amazing Spider-Man 1.5

Spider-Man finally beats Clash and we're all relieved because Clash is not interesting nor likable and looking back to this point in Spidey history means Spidey also isn't terribly interesting and isn't really likable so now we can all move on with our lives. Total Score: 2/5














Amazing X-Men 11
Wendigos! They're everywhere! Wolverine is one! The X-Men travel to the realm of monsters where monster Tanaraq is getting supercharged by the Wendigo presence on Earth and where he plans his attack on Earth, even expanding the Wendigo curse to mean Wendigos can exist outside of Canada! Where goes the Wendigo? EVERYWHERE. Pretty good stuff, drags a little bit despite all of the action, but still a compelling story and Yost brings to this book his uncanny ability to nail the voice of everyone he touches. Total Score: 4/5

Cyclops 5
Cyclops and Corsair have fixed the tracking beacon bounty hunters placed on their ship and therefore successfully lure a group to them, managing to outwit them and steal their ships, though Cyclops overrides his dad's plans a few times to show compassion for the bounty hunters. Good characterization of a young and optimistic Scott and now we can continue our journeys with the interesting father-son duo. Total Score: 4/5











Deadpool 35
MAYBE, just MAYBE, there will some day be a week where nary a single DEADPOOL book will be released. But that's not this week so, onwards. Deadpool spends some quality time with Ellie and has to fight a Spider-Slayer Dracula has put his consciousness into, which he defeats handily. He also brings the refugees from Butler's camps to the Jean Grey School and has Beast run medical tests on them, which could complicate things as Hank quickly calls Deadpool back, needing his liver for a vital operation. Bit of a break from the action here as even the Dracula fight has very little stakes (HA) and mostly plays for laughs, which are certainly there if not enough to carry the issue. Total Score: 3/5

Edge of Spider-Verse 3

Dustin Weaver introduces us to Aaron Aikman, the only Spider-Man who has sought out the Spider, injecting himself with a serum that gave him his powers and using advanced machinery to vigilânt around the city. There's a full story here about his laboratory and the woman he loved risking everything to save her daughter but the real story is the twist ending when Morlun shows up and kills Aikman, meaning that just because we're seeing these dudes on the EDGE of SPIDER-VERSE, they won't necessarily make it to the main showing. Pretty good stuff, drags like any of these have when they've had to really give a lot of backstory for one issue, but it holds together somewhat nicely. Total Score: 3/5






Guardians of the Galaxy 19
Quill continues to tell his story to Gamora and explains that they couldn't die in the Cancerverse so their sacrifice had kind of been for nothing, now they had to play eternal keep-away from Thanos with the Cosmic Cube, made more troublesome by the appearance of the Cancerverse Avengers who are all evil and who want the Cube themselves and, sadly, eventually get it. The issue is all from the memory of Quill so it's basically a big ol' flashback where we don't know the full ending but we kind of know maybe half of it (Drax, Quill, and Thanos, in the very least, survive to return to the 616) so kind of low stakes here for a story that's going to last at LEAST three issues. Total Score: 2/5

Inhuman 6

Dante and his new friends Jason (rock-based powers) and Naja (weird-based powers) find their way back to Attilan, now run by The Unspoken, and manage to, with the help of Vinatos, the medical regent of New Attilan, infiltrate The Unspoken's throne room. He still has the Terrigen crystals he found so he's still insanely powerful but Dante attacks him all the same, getting horribly wounded in the fight for his troubles. While Naja continues the distraction, Jason uses his rock powers to destroy the crystals, effectively ending The Unspoken's new reign and restoring Medusa to the throne. Good issue for the NuHumans as everything is set right once again, though Lineage seems ready to strike a deal with the imprisoned Unspoken. Total Score: 4/5






Loki: Agent of Asgard 6
Thanks to some time-and-space trickery, Doctor Doom finds himself face to face at the end of the universe with the original Loki, who derides and denounces him, causing Doom to go back to his own time and search out the young Loki, pulling him into battle at his castle. He ends up trapping Loki, who doesn't want any part of this fight, and announcing that he's captured a god, effectively weakening him by destroying his story. Though things seem lost for young Loki, he secretly brought Verity Willis (eye roll!) with him and now she's prepared to help her friend. I literally have no idea what's going on and what the point of any of this is. Total Score: 2/5

Magneto 10
Magneto has been captured by the Red Skull and is being tortured by Xavier's brain in the hopes that Skull can break him. Magneto tries to hide in all his worst memories, giving us a full tour of many of them, but finds eventually that he cannot keep Skull at bay. Before he breaks, he's rescued by the similarly captured Havok, Rogue, and Scarlet Witch. Pretty sad issue for Magneto, you guys, as we see the worst of the worst, but it follows the theme Bunn has set up for this series, which often goes back to why Magneto fights. Total Score: 4/5

New Warriors 10
The Celestials are coming! The New Warriors strike again at the High Evolutionary and his Evolutionaries. Speedball makes a great Ghostbusters reference! The Eternals show up! Action, hijinks, comedy, drama, and more! Check out NEW WARRIORS 10! Total Score: 5/5














Savage Wolverine 23
A story from Wolverine's past where someone drugs him, slowing his healing factor and tries to hunt him through the woods of his animal-times. He's protected by the runt of a wolf pack but eventually the wolf sacrifices himself to save Wolverine, drawing Wolverine out to murder everyone in sight. Typical Wolverine-in-the-woods story done with maybe a little less flare and heart and with even more hand-holding than some of the others I've seen. Total Score: 2/5

Storm 3
Storm is called to Kenya by a mysterious benefactor saying that he needs her help to bring rain and water to the people there. Though she's wary it's a trap, it's a cause that matters enough to her to send her there anyway. It's not entirely a trap, but it was Forge, with whom she has a rocky relationship, who sent the letter. He swears he can do it and she chooses to trust him, though one of the Kenyans doesn't and his interference sort of sabotages everything, though Storm does her part to sabotage the machinery, demanding that Forge first spend a year in Kenya working on the tech and working with the people so that they can all have a mutual trust and to ensure that the tech will work and not just be an experiment. It's another good issue to characterize Storm, who wants to trust Forge but knows things aren't that black and white. Instead, she comes up with an interesting plan that roots itself in trust and hope. That's what we want to see out of Storm. Total Score: 4/5

Thunderbolts 31
It's Punisher vs. Red Hulk in the final battle of the T-Bolts. It's a huge fight and the momentum swings back and forth until Hawkeye and the Avengers (though the lesser known ones, like Cannonball, Sunspot, and Shang-Chi) show up to break up the fighting. Red Hulk doesn't believe they're the Avengers but Punisher stands down, unwilling to harm the good guys. Elektra turns up to calm Red Hulk, dropping the Leader's body in between them and showing them that he was an LMD and that, in fact, it was the Leader behind all of this the whole time. Ross announces the Thunderbolts are done, leaving the Red Leader victorious for next time. Plenty of fun in this issue as the fight gets more and more elevated. Also fun to see Hawkeye lead his team of lesser known Avengers into battle and to see the Punisher and Red Hulk struggle to understand that they are, in fact, Avengers. Total Score: 4/5

Cyclops 2, Loki: Agent of Asgard 5

Cyclops 2
Rucka (w) and Dauterman (a) and Sotomayor (c) and Caramagna (l)

Cyclops and his dad are riding the galactic trail, exploring and finding some things out, all of which is old to Corsair but new to Cyke. They travel to Yrzt, which Corsair compares to Vegas. They meet with an old black market friend (since allegedly gone legitimate) of Corsair's and he buys himself some secret drugs while Cyclops hangs out in a Danger Room equivalent with the trader's daughter. As they prepare to leave the planet, they're accosted by some real jerks out to bring Corsair in for various crimes. Cyclops manages to fight them off but it costs Corsair his new drugs. Bad news for all, though, the jerks managed to get a tracker on Corsair's ship.

Cyclops is starting to learn just how big the universe is but learning starts at home as it's painfully obvious (particularly to us, MAYBE less so to him) that Corsair is hiding something from his son. The two of them are palling around the universe in a spaceship built for two with Corsair discovering how little his son knew about the universe at this age (the Cyclops he knows is a little more traveled) and Cyclops learning that his dad is a neat-o space pirate. It's a fun book and it reads pretty well, though it's maybe not the most thrilling thing out there just yet. Of course, it's very early for this book and Rucka is opening the door for bigger and better stories down the road.

Total Score: 4/5


Loki: Agent of Asgard 5
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c) and Cowles (l)

Loki arranges his heist on Asgardia, hoping to free the wrongfully imprisoned Sigurd while also, perhaps, working things to his own end. With the help of such notables as Thor (providing a distraction for Heimdall), Lorelai (helping with the actual break-in), Verity Willis (helping with a dumb name and inexplicable power), and Sigurd himself (helping to break himself out per a plan the two of them formed in a dumpster), Loki manages to free Sigurd and get he and Lorelai out before going to explore the rest of the area, where he finds the old Loki ready to strike.

Things are heating up so mildly in this book that you may just miss it. The Loki v. Loki fight has some interesting qualities to it but right now it feels like things are crawling to get there while other less important storylines (NO, I'm not going to get over Verity Willis, you guys) take center stage (it seems important to note that I've been reading comics long enough to know that the Verity Willis thing is very likely deeper than it seems on the outside but I'm still not ready to accept that as an answer to how stupid I find it). There's definitely more here than in a couple of the last issues (though they've rather bounced up and down) but I'm still not sure it's enough to really make this book overly worthwhile.

Total Score: 3/5

She-Hulk 4, Loki: Agent of Asgard 4

She-Hulk 4
Soule (w) and Pulido (a) and Vicente (c) and Cowles (l)

She-Hulk pays a visit to San Francisco to get some advice from fellow lawyer-superhero Matt Murdock about her recent case involving Kristoff Vernard, son of Dr. Doom. With his counsel, she flies to Latveria in the hopes of finishing her case. She manages to sneak into the country and launches a small attack on Castle Doom before a giant Doombot controlled by Doom himself stops her. She talks with him, telling him that it would serve Doom well to let Kristoff live a life since all he's doing now is teaching the future ruler of Latveria to bow and that letting him go out on his own, whether in Latveria or abroad, will let him become a stronger person. Doom consents reluctantly and Kristoff brings She-Hulk home, where she begins to look into the facts of her mysterious blue file.

Story
The conclusion of the Doom storyline works out nicely as Jen manages to get into Latveria and makes another compelling argument (her first came when she won her actual trial to grant Kristoff asylum) on behalf of her client. It paints a picture of a good lawyer at work and, as she and Matt discuss, the role of a lawyer who has the ability to do far more for a client than most. On top of it, we start to get a sense of what's in the blue file as she reveals to Hellcat and Angie Huang that she and several other in the superhero/villain community are being sued by someone in North Dakota for something she cannot recall. Interesting stuff ahead. 5/5

Character
There are plenty of strong character moments here from just about everyone who appears. She-Hulk gets plenty of her own moments in the way that she speaks and in the way she acts; her tone and her demeanor give us as much a sense of her character as her willingness to visit San Francisco for advice and her willingness to travel to Latveria for a client she doesn't even like. Kristoff and Doom get some decent characterization (a well-written Doom continues to be just an absolute pleasure to read), as do Hellcat and Angie Huang in their much smaller roles. 5/5

Writing
Soule's writing continues to be very strong, giving great dialogue and compelling story beats as the series continues. I've covered most of that in the above two sections but it feels more and more each issue like Soule is building his world in some really strong ways. Hopefully the book hangs on long enough to let us see it (I've no idea how sales on this or any other new book are doing but I fear that the cuts have to come somewhere). 5/5

Art
Pulido's art continues to impress, though I get the sense that his work continues to be very polarizing. Matt Murdock is characterized some by his dialogue in this one but even more by his inability to sit still as he and She-Hulk hang out on the Golden Gate Bridge. He's constantly doing handstands and jumping from wire to wire and all sorts of different things in the course of his regular conversation. It's pretty fun and it adds a lot to the book, which is about all you can ask from any artist on any book. Muntsa Vicente does a solid job too on the colors for this extremely specific art style. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Just another in a line of Soule books that's proven to be a lot of fun to read while also being an engaging superhero comic.

Total score: 5/5


Loki: Agent of Asgard 4
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c) and Cowles (l)

Loki needs to send Sigurd home to Asgardia on behalf of the All-Mothers but Sigurd has other plans. Sigurd wants to remain on Earth but also to change his religion to one of resurrection upon death, hoping to avoid the fate that's been promised to him when he dies (consumed by the ex-Disir Valkyries, as happened a few years ago in NEW MUTANTS). For his plan, he needs his sword Gram, which Loki happens to have. The two fight for it and it seems Sigurd was the winner, though the conclusion of the fight happens out of sight. Sigurd visits Tibet and finds dark sorcerer Kaluu, hoping that he can change his religion. Sigurd explains what happened between himself and Loki while Kaluu listens and, at the end, agrees to aid Sigurd. They both shed blood on the wheel of karma to agree to terms and to get the ball rolling only for Kaluu to transform into Mephisto and show Sigurd that the karma wheel was, in fact, a contract and that his soul now belongs to Hell. Unfortunately for Mephisto, Loki had been on the mountaintop all along, courtesy of a number of invisibility charms and spells, and swapped out the wheel/contract for a contract of his own that banishes Mephisto and sends Sigurd back to Asgardia. Though the All-Mothers are pleased with Loki, he's not so thrilled with them and enlists the help of Verity Willis, Lorelai, and Thor to try to open up the dungeons of Asgardia to release the gods who have been imprisoned there recently.

Story
Every issue of this book has ended so far (with the exception of issue one, but even that had this problem, I just thought the story was more interesting) with me going "geez, that was awfully convoluted." I do believe, to Ewing's credit, that "convoluted" is rather the book's intent. Loki's the god of mischief, not the god of straightforward cause and effect. Were there probably easier, more generic ways for Loki to send Sigurd back to Asgardia? Probably. Maybe fighting? Who knows, it's all moot at this point. I think Ewing's not wrong to want to take the roundabout way to get it done, since people picking up this book want to see Loki being mischievous and outsmarting people. Still, at some point, convoluted for convoluted's sake wears a little thin and the story has to be exciting and compelling enough to warrant it. It didn't feel like this one ever really hit that point. 3/5

Character
Though we get some character beats in dialogue, the strongest sense of character comes from the aforementioned Rube Goldberg-ness of Loki's plots. It's strong characterization in that sense but the dialogue doesn't always support it. One of the most impressive things that Kieron Gillen did in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (and no, it's not fair to keep comparing this series to that one but I'm going to keep doing it) was to make Loki continually outsmart his foes even when it looked like he wasn't doing it or wasn't doing it intentionally because every once in a while you'd get a dark or foreboding line from Kid Loki that showed that maybe his young and excitable exterior was maybe a little deeper than it seemed. I haven't seen a lot of that from this Loki so his dialogue feels incongruous with his plots. Suddenly he just appears and goes "AHA, I had it planned this way from the start!" which, while true, doesn't feel particularly rewarding. 3/5

Writing
I think I pretty much said all I wanted to say about the writing above. The only other thing I'd mention is that I still tend not to like the faintly gimmicky asides that feel more at place in a SCOTT PILGRIM than in a book whose tone hasn't really been firmly established yet (for example, there's a cutaway sequence outlining what Sigurd's wearing and another establishing what Verity is eating in longer detail - it's not necessarily a dumb idea as it's stuff that needs to be explained and an aside is perhaps more useful than clunky dialogue but it really breaks the tone and rather makes me roll my eyes, which is not the last time I'll discuss eye-rolling this time out). 3/5

Art
Lee Garbett's art is pretty strong throughout this one, switching back and forth between realism and fantasy pretty effortlessly. He keeps up with a lot of the tone changes pretty well and really manages to hold the book together when it starts to come undone. Woodard's colors don't hurt either. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Still rolling my eyes continuously at Verity Willis. I understand there's quite possibly a longer game going on with her, but it would have to be a pretty darn convincing and exciting reveal to make me not roll my eyes at her.

Total score: 3/5

Loki: Agent of Asgard 3, Ultimate Spider-Man 200

Loki: Agent of Asgard 3
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c)

As god of mischief Loki spends some time with Verity Willis (guys, I haven't STOPPED rolling my eyes about her since my last review) and Lorelai, god of evil Loki, trapped in a cell in Asgardia while the All-Mother tries to figure out what to do with him, writes a piece of his own history, jumping in time to a day when Odin himself was just a young prince. Loki meets up with his adopted father and together they slay a giant otter who turns out to be a shapeshifting man. They run afoul of the man's family, all according to Loki's plan, and barter for their life with gold Loki procures from an ancient legend named Andvari who has spent his whole life as a giant pike (fish-type pike, not like a spear-type pike) guarding his treasures. Loki separates him from it with a bazooka and brings it, cursed though it is, to the man's family in exchange for their freedom. Meanwhile, one of the brother's, Fafnir, of the man slays their father and tries to slay his other brother, Regin, in order to keep all the gold for himself. The betrayal and lust for gold makes Fafnir transform into a hideous dragon who guards the gold forever until Sigurd, legendary hero of Asgard, is enlisted by Regin to find and slay the dragon with a special sword Regin has made. The sword is Gram, the truth-dealing sword. Sigurd does it, he ends up having to stab Regin with it because Regin actually hates Asgardians and eventually the sword falls into Odin's hands and Loki has him make a box with five locks and five keys to hold it and then later god of mischief Loki got it and he used it way back in the first issue and Sigurd is looking for it in the modern day and WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK.

This may be the single most roundabout story I've ever read in Marvel. Sometimes things like that, things that make me furrow my brow the entire issue until some sort of crazy reveal puts it all together at the end, shock me and win me over by the final page. This did no such thing. I, of course, say this knowing full well that there could be some sort of reveal coming that slides pieces into place but I wholeheartedly believe that that will end up being too little too late. There's just so much here I have trouble buying and have trouble coping with. Maybe that's partly on me but GEEZ, a horribly paced comic didn't help things. I swear this one took me half an hour to get through in the first place, thanks to the wordiness, and then I'd have to double check things to see if pieces were falling into place. FUN FACT: they never were. I think that Ewing's building to something (good god I hope so, otherwise this was just the craziest way to tell us how Loki got Gram, something I hadn't been bothering to ask, and why he's going to have to go up against Sigurd) but issues like this one make me wonder why I should care. Oftentimes you hear the saying that it's the journey, not the destination (or the band Journey and the band Destination's Child) but this one had the single most convoluted journey for the most inconsequential destination that I have to wonder if this is some sort of "What is Art?" post-modern art exhibit.

Ultimate Spider-Man 200
Bendis (w) and Marquez, Lafuente, Pichelli, Brooks, Bagley, and Hennessy (a) and Ponsor (c)

It's been two years in the Ultimate Universe since Peter Parker died and May, before she sells the house, wants to hold a gathering with those closest to him to commemorate his life. Attending are Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Human Torch, Liz Allen, Kenny McFarlane, Jessica Drew, Lana Baumgartner, Miles Morales, and Ganke Lee, although the last two admit to not really knowing him so well. Tony Stark, though invited, could not attend and sends tons and tons of food from a world-renowned chef in his place. Everyone present reminisces about Peter and speculates on what he'd be up to if he was still alive, or indeed what he'd have done with his future in the long run. The answers vary from Spider-Manning with science, Spider-Manning with reporting, Spider-Manning with Spider-Man, and more. All of the memories make everyone present want to do some good with themselves and Miles suggests they bring the food to those who need it, an idea they all agree to and which makes May incredibly proud. After a day of volunteering and helping those less fortunate, everyone goes their separate ways even as someone mysterious watches from the bushes.

It's a milestone issue from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, unquestionably the most influential and most liked book in the Ultimate line, so it's certainly fitting that those involved would want to reminisce a bit. Interestingly, there's not actually that much reminiscing. There's really more speculating about a potential future gone. What could that mean, the idea that they didn't remember things about their lost friend but rather that they thought about what he could be doing? Well, I mean, your guess is as good as mine and I'd say both our guesses are pretty spot-on. ANYWAY, the issue is pretty nice though it does come with a lot of my personal qualms with Bendis books (back-and-forth dialogue, insane amounts of double page spreads, a still entirely weak, in my perspective, Kitty Pryde, and random tone shifts that seem entirely out of place almost every time they occur, to name a few) but I'm going to sit back and not dissect every bit of this one (sorry if I couldn't really help myself just then). For all of my irritations with Bendis, the truth here is that he's created something well-loved and deservedly so. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN should always be viewed as one of the high points of Bendis' long and esteemed career. It really was a game-changer and I think, in a lot of ways, it was a game-changer for good. Of course, there are many people who came after the success of the book and tried simply to ape the style to varying degrees of success but the real shift was that people saw comics as something different. Now somewhat stranger, more character-driven and maybe less action-driven stuff could exist because Marvel knew it could sell. Of course, Spider-Man has always been a character defined by his personality and who he is rather than by the fight scenes he would have so it was a logical choice to let him jumpstart this series but Bendis took it and made it his own and really changed the face of mainstream comics. I don't necessarily agree with everything he does at Marvel and I certainly don't always like everything he does but I give him a lot of credit for his work with this series. More times than not, I feel like this series gets brought up in the conversation about a person's favorite series. It's well-deserved. I remember binge-reading over a hundred issues of this within a few days myself. Issue 200 isn't just a big milestone, it's a huge achievement and one that's often hard to hit with a new series these days. Well done Brian Michael Bendis and well done to all of the artists who have contributed to this series (many of whom, if not all of whom, contributed as artists on this issue).

Loki: Agent of Asgard 2, Punisher 3, She-Hulk 2

Loki: Agent of Asgard 2
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c)

Loki is hot on the trail of Lorelai, Asgardian and younger sister of Amora the Enchantress with whom both Thor (thanks to Loki's magic) and Loki (thanks to Loki) have had romantic trysts. The All-Mother wants all Asgardians returned home and so have tasked Loki with finding Lorelai and bringing her back, but he's not entirely forthright with them (as is his way). He's after Lorelai, sure, but it's for his own purposes. He finds her robbing a casino and manages to scare her off from it in the midst of the heist, from within the vault, but it allows him to track her movements afterwards. She's gone back to ground which means conning people at speed dating so Loki finds himself at speed dating telling this whole story of Lorelai to fellow speed dater and new female lead for the book Verity Willis, a girl who cannot be lied to. Well, she can, but she'll know it was a lie. She won't necessarily know the truth but she'll know that's not it. I couldn't be rolling my eyes ANY HARDER, DEAR READERS.

Lorelai makes her return to the 616 after, coincidentally, an appearance in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD just this very Tuesday. Call it fate, call it karma, but now Lorelai is taking over very small parts of the Marvel Universe. That's not really why I'm here though, is it? No, no it's not. I'm here to talk about Verity Willis, a redheaded girl covered in tattoos who is able to see through Loki's disguise as an older and non-costumed up human when he appears in front of her at speed dating. The problem I have with Verity Willis is OH MY GOD SO MANY. Look, Al Ewing has gained some good faith in my book. I liked his short times on AVENGERS ASSEMBLE and some of the other AGE OF ULTRON tie-in books and I've come around on his MIGHTY AVENGERS and I liked the first issue of this series. I don't even hate this issue. My problem with Verity Willis is that she feels SO VERY FORCED. Ignoring the fact that her given name, apparently, is Verity (and she's had this power seemingly forever so don't tell me she's an Inhuman whose power reflects her inner self because I WILL NOT BELIEVE YOU, THEY DON'T MANIFEST UNTIL ADOLESCENCE AND ALSO INHUMANITY JUST HAPPENED so I ask you how could she even have been EXPOSED to the Terrigen Mists), she is so blatantly the counter to Loki that it is a ridiculous story. I talked a lot about how Nuke was interesting in recent CAPTAIN AMERICA comics or, perhaps even more applicably, how Dr. Mindbubble is an interesting foil because both Nuke and Mindbubble have different aspects of Captain America in their origin or in their actions but both are very clearly fighting for something at odds with Cap. However, both are also DEEPER than their connection to Cap so they can exist elsewhere. Verity Willis, even after just one issue, is so clearly writer's room'd around Loki that it's crazy. It's really hard to get past, you guys.

The issue does a lot of other stuff that I'm not so onboard with, including somewhat distracting layouts and looks that aren't dissimilar to, for example, HAWKEYE 8, which found Cherry sending Hawkeye comics the rang of old romance novels. Here's the thing: this may be unfair, but it was great in HAWKEYE and it doesn't work for me here. Part of it is simply that LOKI's attempt came second and it's never good to come second in something innovative like this. Part of it too is that it doesn't really fit; when HAWKEYE did it, Fraction and Aja and Annie Wu (who drew the various romance-style covers spread throughout the book) put it in several times, making it the tone of the comic and ensuring it became part of the layout. LOKI does it once and does a couple other weird things with captions here and there and it gives the comic a "we're really trying too hard" feel. Sorry about the three paragraphs here guys, noticed that it was running a little long and wanted to break it up a bit more (also I just looked back at some of my old, less uniformed stuff on the blog and some of it is REALLY hard to read with the layout I haphazardly used. Whatever, guys).

Punisher 3
Edmondson (w) and Gerads (a and c)

Punisher is up against Electro on an LA highway and quickly realizes he's outmatched. He hasn't planned for this fight and Electro has, leaving Frank at a distinct disadvantage. He manages to create a diversion by shooting the gas tank of his own previously exited RV and escapes to be picked up by Tuggs, coyote in tow, later. Castle and Tuggs talk about what Electro could be doing with the Dos Soles but can't come to any real conclusions. Frank goes back to the well of one of his intimidated (by which I mean really-beat-up) informants and learns where the Soles are holed up. He prepares to strike at their compound but realizes that he's, perhaps, underestimated his opponents. He still does solid work taking down the Soles' guards, even managing to pretty safely transition from roof to ground, until Electro gets the drop on him and knocks him down, promising to bring him to the boss.

More intense fighting and more hunting down the Soles drives this issue. We're not getting anything particularly earth-shattering in the presentation of this iteration of Punisher but what we are still getting is a solid presentation of a comic book. It's well-written and well-illustrated. The tone is very consistent and exactly the sort of tone we need on a Punisher book. On top of that, the story is compelling and the pacing is perfect, which may save it from becoming boring from people who haven't really been Punisher fans in the past, perhaps because the idea of just shooting through hordes of gang members doesn't really appeal to them (guys, I'm talking about me here, it's not all that veiled). I think it's a testament to Edmondson and Gerads that I'm enjoying this book since I feel like I really shouldn't be. It has a lot of the token pieces that makes Punisher uninteresting to me without really adding anything huge of interest but I am still interested in this series. It's the power of tone and pacing more than anything else (though I'm also pretty into the art style of this one too). Hopefully it continues to be solid as we push forward.

She-Hulk 2
Soule (w) and Pulido (a) and Vicente (c)

She-Hulk has moved into her own law office in a brick building leased out by an ex-mutant who has leased the building exclusively to people with powers, knowing how hard it can be for such people to find office or living space in New York, given the liabilities they are. She-Hulk's first order of business is hiring an assistant, which she does when everyone waiting flees for some mysterious reason and she's left with one applicant, Angie Huang, a strange woman with an impressive resumé and a pet monkey named Hei Hei. The second order of business is finding business. As she has no clients (except the case that her former law firm sent her away with where she and several other super-powered and super-powered associates are defendants), she makes a few calls only to find herself met with resistance from everyone. She calls it a day and goes out at night with Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat. Hellcat is having problems of her own and ends up having, perhaps, a little too much to drink and insists that She-Hulk come with her to beat up some bad guys. They crash a secret AIM base Hellcat learned about from a SHIELD agent during some date and they're attacked by the two AIM agents stationed there. She-Hulk easily takes down the guy in full robot suit she's fighting with but Hellcat has been captured by the other. She-Hulk threatens him but ultimately says that they can just walk away from this if he lets Hellcat go. He does, the heroes tie them up, and they all go on their way. The next day, She-Hulk gets her first client, Kristoff Vernard, son of Victor Von Doom, wishing to defect from Latveria.

I try to ignore other reviews, no matter how small they may be, when I'm preparing my own review. I prefer to go in with my own opinions, get them out of the way, then realize how wrong I am. In this case, though, I saw some tweets from cartoonist Darryl Ayo that talked about giving away SHE-HULK 1 halfway through it then read all of SHE-HULK 2 because it was a much more confident comic. I see some level of truth to that; I do think that SHE-HULK 2 is already feeling more confident about its place and in its main character than SHE-HULK 1 maybe did. On the flip-side, I do believe that SHE-HULK 1 was a better story. Granted, there's decidedly not a lot happening in this one; Jen is trying to find work so she's not exactly doing a ton in this issue whereas she had a case set up for her in the first issue. However, I thought this one was more about world-building in a lot of ways than the nice start that issue one had. Still a pretty solid issue here. I think Javier Pulido's art is going to draw a lot of love it/hate it response and I'm not really sure where I fall on it. For what it's worth, I think I really like Muntsa Vicente's colors with Pulido's art. I think that the two of them together are creating a very interesting and colorful world for She-Hulk to live in, something that isn't often true about new books. We'll see about this one, guys. We'll just see.

Comics this week

As has been true a couple times already this year, this is a big week for new releases and for releases just starting out. Look for a slew of number ones, twos, and threes this week, most of which make up this list.

Loki: Agent of Asgard 2

I liked this first issue and I've liked the turnaround on Ewing's MIGHTY AVENGERS. I'm still skeptical that this Loki will be able to sustain a series but I would have said that before Gillen's JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY too and that was amazing. So this is me being cautiously optimistic and recommending checking out issue two of LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD in the hopes that Ewing can pull off a solid story with the character.

Magneto 1

Of all of the new releases, this is one of the ones I'm most doubtful of. Magneto, while obviously a very interesting and compelling character, has not ever been able to sustain a book. I'm not sure his chances are particularly improved by the writing of Cullen Bunn, who similarly has not really been able to sustain a Marvel series (though I thought he did a fine job picking up the reins from Remender on VENOM). Like LOKI, it seems like this will be a somewhat more black ops book for a one-time great villain whose alignment is questionable (though I fully expect LOKI to be more lighthearted). Could be fun, could be slow, I guess we'll see.

Moon Knight 1

Of all of the new releases, this is one of the ones I'm most confident about. Moon Knight is a very cool character and one I know Warren Ellis will enjoy playing with, Ellis is a great writer who can certainly do the detective/crazy angle pretty well (for as short as it was, I loved his time on SECRET AVENGERS and particularly his time playing with Moon Knight on SECRET AVENGERS), and Declan Shalvey is a phenomenal artist as much as Jordie Bellaire is a magnificent colorist. Very excited for this one, one of those times where all of the pieces are in place and you can't understand why it took so long to get around to it.

New Warriors 2

I said in my NEW WARRIORS 1 review that I trust Yost to do solid work and that his first issue planted a lot of seeds that I think he's going to have fun with and that are overall good moves. I thought the first issue did a lot of good work with pacing and establishing characters so I'm looking forward to seeing what Yost does to move forward and what better place to go from number one than to number two? Stellar move, guys, just stellar.

She-Hulk 2

This was another number one that I found myself liking a lot. I'm one hundred percent on the Charles Soule bandwagon at this point, as it took him maybe one issue to turn THUNDERBOLTS from a series that had started to bore me despite what I saw as near limitless potential into a book that absolutely destroys every time out. She-Hulk's first outing was fun and really character-driven without making things too tense or trying to thread too much story into one book. It was a great mix of fun and frustration and character moments that really set a tone for this new series. I'm looking forward to where we're going next.

This week's picks

Pretty solid week and one of the hardest weeks to layout ahead of time. I try to review books by a made-up ranking of importance every week which usually places AVENGERS titles on Wednesday, X-MEN titles on Thursday or Friday, depending on the titles, and solo titles strewn all around depending on lead character or name recognition or what have you. I can typically tell as I'm seeing the list of new comics what books are "Saturday" books. This week had so many good and important titles coming out that I ended up with no books that were truly Saturday books; a case could be made for both SUPERIOR CARNAGE ANNUAL and MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN so I went that way and lopped SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN in with them. ANYWAY. Look, I'm talking a lot about process these days which is awfully odd as it often seems I don't have one but guys, there are WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS OVER HERE.

Black Widow 3

This book just keeps on impressing me. Between a fantastic characterization the likes of which I doubted I'd be seeing so steadily and artwork that blows a lot of the other books out of the water (even many of the good books out there), BLACK WIDOW is quickly jumping the ranks and climbing into a regular spot on this list. Edmondson is building Natasha both with the dialogue and narrative she presents but also just as much in the words she doesn't say. In that way, the terseness of her narration and the shortness of her dialogue build a character far more impressively than overloading her with words to explain her actions. In my head, I can't help likening this to other spy-based shows and movies, like Burn Notice or James Bond, but I think it mixes the best of the genre, building a strong and very complex protagonist without all the hand-holding of "this is the way I'm going to pull this off." Natasha doesn't think about the actions she's taking, she just does. She, of course, particularly as we saw this issue, thinks about the job and the repercussions of the job, but she doesn't think about the actual physical steps she takes because it's all second nature to her. Amazing book so far. After a whirlwind of three releases through January and early February, Widow fans have their first wait coming as issue four won't come out until the second or so week of March. I suppose we'll have to get used to that.

Loki: Agent of Asgard 1

For my big long blurb at the top up there, I'm actually coming into this list woefully unprepared. Despite a solid 15 releases this week, all of which with some import to them, only BLACK WIDOW really jumped out at me as instantly deserving of this list. So the debut of LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD ekes its way onto this one despite a few shortcomings, just trumping MS. MARVEL, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and PUNISHER. I really like the way that Al Ewing is taking the Marvel Universe Loki and making the character his own. It's not an easy feat and it's something of a bold attempt after Kieron Gillen pretty much exclusively used the character for the past few years, doing a marvelous job in every aspect. Ewing comes in with a new look Loki and, while still harkening back to some of Gillen's stuff and, of course, the mythos at large, made sure to let everyone know this was a new and different Loki now. He goes so far as to erase his presence in the Avengers' database as a symbolic gesture and save Thor from a demon within all in his first issue. With a book that wants to focus so largely on the power of story and myth, Loki is determined to rewrite his own. Of course, Ewing left us with the hint that maybe not everyone wants the "God of Evil" writing of the character gone so quickly. I do think the story relies on cheap jokes now and again and doesn't know whether it wants to be seated in the 616 or the MCU and seems to want both worlds (though it's certainly not the only Marvel book with that problem) but it's a nice starting point and I think it will allow Ewing freedom as he moves forward.

New Avengers 14

While I still find the viewing of other Earths and the way they deal with the incursion problems (or, I suppose, are unable to deal) interesting, the draw of this issue and the reason it lands on this list this week is the characterization and the ongoing drama of Dr. Strange. Strange has undergone some compelling character shifts over the last few years, going from Sorcerer Supreme to not-Sorcerer Supreme to kind of creepy guy (in Fraction's DEFENDERS) to Sorcerer Supreme to incursion team Illuminati member. The latest shift has found him, despite all of his power, unable to really help the team with the threat of the worlds. While Reed, Tony, Beast, Black Bolt, Black Panther, and, well, not really so much Namor (but he's there and wouldn't second guess himself the way Strange does), build devices and come up with as many plans as they can to stop the incurring worlds, Strange finds himself unable to combat the threat with any of his magic. So he's thrown his soul away condemning these other worlds to death (as has been the big moral question of the series) and he hasn't even been able to help. So he's prepared to change that now and, I mean, if he's not going to use his soul anyway, what's the point of having it? So he's selling his soul for approximately five times the power he needs to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. Is Dr. Strange heading down the path of "biggest super villain ever?" Is this all worth it? Will he even survive the process? Plenty happening here and a nice look at Strange who has spent so much time of this book purposely relegated to the background.


Biggest single-line character definition of the week

Why yes, this is a convoluted bonus bit to justify the fact I've been thinking about this line all week and how I was going to fit it into my posts with CAPTAIN AMERICA not making the top picks this week. ANYWAY, were you thinking that maybe Jet Black had turned over a new leaf after playing the savior to the Phrox at the end of her time in Dimension Z? NOPE, not entirely, anyway. She's unsure about it all still but she's not ready to embrace the heroic life. The whole issue is a nice testament to it but her retort to the shopkeeper she sort-of saves is the central line of her character and the antithesis of Cap. "I was just taking out the garbage..." says the old man. Jet's response? "And that makes your defense my responsibility?" Well said, Jet. I mean, if you're a burgeoning supervillain.

Ms. Marvel 1, Loki: Agent of Asgard 1

Ms. Marvel 1
G. W. Wilson (w) and Alphona (a) and Herring (c)

Kamala Khan is a Muslim-American Pakistani from Jersey City who can't help but feel a little tied down by her family and her religion and culture. While she adheres to her culture and loves her family, she feels it's keeping her from her would-be normal life. In the spirit of rebellion and frustration, she sneaks out of her room to go to a party on the waterfront with a bunch of other high schoolers (led by blonde, attractive popular girl and purportedly fake-nice "concern troll" Zoe Zimmer). She's handed a cup of orange juice (not realizing it's spiked with vodka) and takes a sip, immediately spitting it back out but quickly realizing she's not really in the right place for her. As she leaves the party, irritated by Zimmer and others like her as well as by her friend Bruno's attempts to protect her, the Terrigen Mists sweep through the city and she's suddenly wrapped up in a cocoon. While inside, Iron Man, Captain America, and Captain Marvel come to her and begin speaking Urdu to her. They talk with her about her problems and she reveals that, if she had her ultimate wish, she'd be "beautiful and awesome and butt-kicking and less complicated," like Captain Marvel but preferring the old Ms. Marvel costume. Captain Marvel reveals to her that she's about to get her wish but that it's not going to work the way she thinks it will. She awakens to find herself trapped in the cocoon and punches her way out, shocked to find herself garbed as Ms. Marvel with long, blonde hair.

Very interesting introduction to Kamala Khan, the most talked about new superhero in quite some time (even as I write this "Ms. Marvel" is the top trend on Twitter). The book faces something of an uphill battle as writer G. Willow Wilson has to not only introduce the readers to Kamala, but to establish a lot about Kamala's culture and family. With plenty of other new characters, it's enough to throw them into their origin story and show us a couple of one-liners or fights or something else because we can basically assume they grew up in a certain environment. Here, Kamala's upbringing is core to who she is and, while that's true for everyone, it's an upbringing with which plenty of readers aren't familiar. In that way, the first handful of pages move a tiny bit slowly as there's a lot of set-up and a lot of dialogue but it all serves a really important point and it doesn't drag in the way you'd almost expect it to, which is to the book's credit. We come away from the first five or six pages with a pretty good idea of who Kamala is and what her status is as a teenager in school. The characters are all, in fact, pretty well-defined pretty quickly and it clears the way to focus on the story for the rest of the issue. It's rare to have a book that defines its brand new character so quickly but this one is certainly hitting that mark. The art, too, is a great fit for the book and the art style and colors give it a somewhat softer feel than most books of today. There's a lot to really like about this first issue and I'd trust it only goes up from here. Looking forward to what this book has in store and, for all the hype around this issue, I think it's living up to its billing.

Loki: Agent of Asgard 1
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c)

Loki, in his new body, is under the employ (if you can call it that) of the All-Mother to act as an agent of Asgard (hence the name of his new series). His newest mission? To break into Avengers tower and purge Thor of some sort of spirit inhabiting him that is making him base and bullying, turning him into...well, his younger self. Loki gets into Avengers Tower and has soon drawn the attention of every Avenger in the place (the movie team). His silver tongue and his misdirection, though, get him out of a jam long enough to go to the Avengers database and erase his file from its memory, vowing that he is not the same Loki who has attacked the Avengers so often in the past. The Avengers find him there and Thor attacks but Loki manages to stab him through the back with Sigurd's sword, a sword infused with magic that will make you suffer the truths you've ignored. In this case, it means that Thor has to look inward and realize there is, in fact, something in there with him, and it is expelled, Loki catching it in a cup of his own design. He and Thor talk it out a little while later (before Loki breaks out of holding) and Loki returns to Asgard to deliver the news and the cup to the All-Mother. As Loki leaves, the All-Mother opens the cup to find the old Loki, the original Marvel Universe Loki, inside, wishing to discuss the future.

I will say that I was a bit hesitant about this book. I didn't know Al Ewing before he came to Marvel but I liked his couple of issues on AVENGERS ASSEMBLE and then haven't quite liked his run so far on MIGHTY AVENGERS, leaving me more recently with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, a taste that thought maybe he was trying a bit too hard. Here, though, he's created a really interesting first issue that includes a lot of things that I'm eager to see more of. On the one hand, he seems to have restored a modicum of Loki's Gillen-reimagined character. I loved JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and YOUNG AVENGERS but JIM ended with the old Loki in Kid Loki's body with Kid Loki's newfound innocence in the world. YOUNG AVENGERS was a little tough to get a read on Loki, who fought himself throughout and left the reader a little unsure what Loki would be coming into this book. This one deals a lot with stories and roles. Loki, in his very first appearance in the Marvel Universe, took on the role of god of evil, warping it enough from god of mischief to a burning evil. For Asgardians, the role they take is as important as any other decision they might make and Loki, then, was locked into this evil role until his death. And so he died and now here he is with a chance to set things right. He's still Loki, he's still the god of mischief, but he has the choice to not fall into the god of evil role. Of course, that will likely be made more difficult with the OG Loki lurking around but it's a great start to this book. As anyone who read my DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED reviews or who has picked up on the fact that I quite like Neil Gaiman will probably realize, I'm a fan of the idea that the power of stories is great (also that I review comics for FUN - or profit, if anyone wants to hire me to do this). So I like the turn this series is taking to make Loki and Asgard mythical in the storied sense, especially on the heels of a book like JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY which focused very much on that idea. I hope this book continues in that manner, it should be a good run.